Wardrobe-trunk-drawer retainer



Jim. 29, 1924.

' R. W. OWEN, JR

WARDROBE TRUNK DRAWER RETAINER Filed Nov. 8, 1920 Patented Jan. 29, 1924.

Til i RICHARD w. owmv, m ver oHIoAeo, iLLInoIs-assisaton; BY mnsnn'lessicnirnnrs, .TO THE mnnsrnuoro rnonx CORPORATION, or IvIISHAWAKA, INDIANA, A con- PORATION OF INDIANA. 4

.wannnoBE-TRUnK-nRAw R RET INER.

, l ma... filed November 8, 1920. Serial mama.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RIcHAnn W. OWEN,

J r., a citizen of the United' States, residing at Chicago,in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in WVardrobe-Trunk- Drawer Retainers, of which'the following is a specification.

My invention relates toimprovements in wardrobe trunk drawer retainers, and it more especially ;.comprises the features.

pointed out in the annexed claims.

The purpose of my invention is toprovide a self-contained drawer retainer that will effectively hold the drawers of wardrobe trunks in place against shifting while in transit without employing complicated parts; that will be readily adapted to existing trunks without any changes in the trunk structure whatever; that is also specially adaptable to new trunks in the process of manufacture; that is extremely simple to make and as simple to use.

lVith these and other objects in view, I illustrate in the accompanying drawing uch instances of adaptation as will disclose the broad underlying principles of the invention without limiting myself to the specific details which are shown in the drawing and are described herein.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the drawer portion of a wardrobe trunk, with the re-' tainer in position, adapted to an existing trunk in which the drawer lock is centrally placed.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1, partly in section. I

Fig. 3 is a detached front elevation of a modified form of the retainer.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a retainer placed centrally of a drawer and the keylock to one side.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged elevation of the retainer shown in side elevation with the adjacent drawer parts in section.

Fig. 6 is a detached elevation showing a top drawer with a positioning notch in the upper edge of the drawer front.

In practically carrying out my invention I make the retainer a removable element that can be taken away from the drawers entirely. When a trunk is opened the retainer can be hung from the side of the top drawer until the trunk is to be closed, The

drawer side of a wardrobe trunk is repres sented by 1.

In this .there is an upper drawer 2 provided with any desired kind of key-lock 3. A bottom drawer 11 is alSOpIovided as well as intermediate drawer-s12.

,Between the bottom clrawenlland the one immediately above a partition 6 is placed. On thisa slotted plate 5 is secured. It has a slot 17 through which the lower end upper end ofthe retainer may be forked in 7 of the retainer bars 1 and 13 passes. ,The I and '3, or in anyother .way.. In Fig.1the

curved "part 9 has hook ends-8 formedlby' which the whole retaineris suspended from the upper edge of the drawer front of the top drawer 2. In Fig. 3 the fork takes the shape of the letter. V the two arms of the letter being indicated by 10. At the junctionof these arms they are attached to the straight stem 41. They have hook ends 14: which serve the same purpose as ends 8.

The single bar 13 combined with its hookend 15 forms the simplest type of retainer. This is usually applied to new trunks in the process 'of manufacture, and in such cases the lock 3 is placed just to one side to clear the bar 13. The hook ends 8, 14:, and 15 may rest in positioning notches 16 formed in the upper edge of the front of the top drawer. As a matter of fact there is usually enough clearance between the upper edge of the drawer 2 and the inner edge of the trunk to admit the thin portion of the hook ends without the use of notches 16. An obvious advantage of the notches is to assist the slot 17 in plate 5 to keep the retainers approximately central of all the drawers.

The operation of the retainer is simplicity itself. After the drawers are all closed except the top one, the curved bottom'end 7 of the bar 4 is slipped through the opening 17 of plate 5, which plate is secured to the shelf 6, and then the end 15 or ends 8 or 1e are hooked over the top front edge of the uppermost drawer. The top drawer is now closed and locked. In this way the bar use of these retainers, in that the drawers can all be locked without closing the entire present device has been made heretofore.

There have also been made various retaining devices which are attached to the other half of the trunk, but these only hold the drawers in place while the trunk is closed,

leaving them accessible to any prowler'that may happen around,'exoept the top drawer which is usually-locked in'trunks of this type. The'other drawers are of course en'- tirely unprotected. i

From the description it is quite obvious that the reason the retainers cannot be removed as'long as the top drawer is locked or is unopened lies in the fact that the hook ends passunder thetrunk edge and in consequence cannot be raised, thus effectually retaining and at the same time locking all the other drawers. a

What I claim is, I

1. In drawer retaining and locking devices, a series of drawers, a removable rigid member adapted to pass in front of the drawers to be held, means for holding the lower end of said-member against sidewise movement, and means comprising a hook on the upper end of said member to pass over and down inside one of the drawers, said drawer being locked to retain said member in looking position by its interposition between thedrawer and its support.

2. In drawer retaining and locking devices, a suitable walled compartment, a series ofdrawers therefor, a removable rigid member adapted to pass in front of the drawers to be held, means for holding the lower end of said member against side-wise movement,

and means comprising a. hook on the said member to pass over and down inside of one 7 RICHARD w. OWEN, JR;

and awall of said com 

